Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Breaded Basa Fish with a Garlic Cream Sauce


Jon has been asking for fish for dinner for a few weeks and as you know, I'm not the biggest fan of seafood. I am always willing to try it though, so when I saw that our local market had Basa Swai, I picked up 2 filets.

Now, what to do with them? I need to add a lot of flavor to fish when I cook it, and was craving something like the
Chicken Florentine I made last year. I also thought of something like a Chicken Francese - nice thick breading and a lemon sauce. I combined the two ideas and came up with a breaded basa filet with a garlic cream sauce served with spinach and noodles.

Ingredients

  • 2 Basa filets (basa is a very light, white fish from Vietnam; this dish would work with similar fish such as flounder)
  • 2 tbsp flour
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tbsp bread crumbs mixed with a touch of paprika, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and shredded Parmesan cheese
  • 3 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1 shallot, chopped
  • 1/4 c white wine
  • 1/4 c light cream
  • Optional: a touch of dried parsley and red pepper flakes
  • 2 tbsp shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 300 degrees
  • Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large pan
  • Dredge fish in flour, dip in egg, and coat with the bread crumbs. Add to the pan and cook for 2 minutes on each side. Transfer to a baking dish and finish cooking in the oven - about 2-3 more minutes.
  • Add 1 tsp olive oil to the pan where the fish cooked
  • Add shallots and garlic, saute 2 min
  • Add wine and stir quickly for about a minute
  • Add cream and bring to a simmer; season with red pepper flakes and dried parsley
  • Whisk in the Parmesan cheese
  • Serve sauce over the fish



I think this meal took me about 20-25 minutes from start to finish, including the prep time to chop the garlic and shallots. The sauce had so much flavor and went perfectly with the crispy fish. I really like this fish because it's very light, but not terribly flaky - it has some meat to it but isn't overpowering. I think I'd compare the consistency almost to that of sea bass, but on a much thinner scale.

I only saw Basa Swai for the first time a few months ago. If you like light, white fish, keep your eyes open for this one. To see other ways I have prepared it, type "basa" into the search bar on the right side of this blog.


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7 comments:

  1. This looks great. I'm not a huge fish fan, either, but being that it's breaded & served with a cream sauce, I don't think you can go wrong. :)

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  2. I don't think I have ever heard of Basa Fish, but I am definitely going to keep an eye out for it next time I go the grocery store. This looks like a great recipe!

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  3. I love fish, but don't make it often. I'll have to look for Basa fish next time I'm at the market.

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  4. Just found your blog; you sure know how to make someone hungry! I'm going through some of your earlier post and have found several that I'd like to try.

    A question: why do you saute something then finish it in the oven? Does that add something or does it just give you time to make a sauce?

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  5. Hi Don - I am glad you are liking my blog!

    I finished the fish in the oven for 2 reasons. The outside was getting very crispy and the center still needed another minute to cook, and I didn't want them to burn so I put them in the oven. Normally I'd just put them in the oven on warm (200) to keep them warm while I made the sauce. Good question!

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  6. Enjoyed this very much, I'm not much of a sauce maker so I'll work this just a bit next time. The fish was excellent.

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  7. This was verry yummy i made it

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